Can WA Labor deliver election promise of $150m vanadium battery for Kalgoorlie by 2029?

Australia Broadcast Center

07-05-2025

Western Australia's vanadium industry literally went up in smoke in 2014.
A fire in the processing plant at the Windimurra mine near Mount Magnet in the state's Midwest cost its owners millions, forcing its closure, and WA has not had an operating vanadium mine since.
While there have been plans to reopen the mine and develop other projects, the lack of any home-grown vanadium producers looms as an obvious hurdle in a key promise by WA Labor at the recent state election.
It committed to building Australia's biggest vanadium flow battery in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on the edge of the state's power grid, known as the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).
Premier Roger Cook said during the election campaign that the 50-megawatt, $150 million battery would use locally sourced and processed vanadium.
Under Labor's plan, the battery would be operational by 2029 — around the same time WA's last coal-fired power station is scheduled to close at Collie.
Premier Roger Cook with Kalgoorlie MLA Ali Kent during this year's state election campaign.
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"Kalgoorlie will be at the forefront of the newest technology in energy storage," Mr Cook said.
"It will not only incentivise and activate our battery industry out here in Kalgoorlie, it will also ensure Kalgoorlie is the beneficiary of a more resilient grid and an important part of our clean energy transition."
Kalgoorlie-Boulder is one of Australia's biggest inland cities with a population of about 30,000 people.
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Opposition has doubts
Since the 1980s, Kalgoorlie-Boulder has been connected to the Muja power station at Collie by transmission lines that run for more than 600 kilometres and have been vulnerable to
State-owned utility Synergy introduced the
The first of Synergy's big battery systems was completed at Kwinana in 2023.
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Opposition Energy spokesperson Steve Thomas welcomed Labor's vanadium battery plan for Kalgoorlie-Boulder but had doubts it would be delivered as promised.
"It's entirely aspirational, and while we don't want to stomp on the aspiration, it is highly optimistic," he said.
"The chances of the government delivering on the vanadium battery are roughly the same as the government closing down all its coal-fired power stations by 2029. I fully expect the timeframes to blow out on both."
Mr Thomas doubts the vanadium battery will be delivered as promised.
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Small-scale trial underway
While the Kalgoorlie-Boulder battery is its ultimate goal, the state government has begun trialling the vanadium flow technology on a smaller scale in WA's Kimberley.
A 78-kilowatt battery — with about four times the capacity of an electric car — was commissioned last November at Kununurra.
Horizon Power's future technology and innovation manager David Edwards said the battery had so far exceeded expectations in extreme temperatures.
Horizon Power's project manager Dan Healy and future technology and innovation manager David Edwards.
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"What we're trying to do is test the thermal resilience … we were looking for technologies that don't burn and experience thermal runaway," he said.
"We specifically ordered this battery without a cooling system just to test how it would perform in a very hot environment … we're very pleased with it."
Mr Edwards said the battery was providing vital information on how to integrate long-duration energy storage into the network.
"It's completely new to us … we want to understand how it works and then think about how we can use it across wider WA," he said.
Battery promise 'achievable'
Graham Arvidson is CEO of ASX-listed Australian Vanadium, which operates a vanadium electrolyte plant in Perth and is progressing regulatory approvals for a vanadium mine near Meekatharra in WA's Midwest.
The company provided electrolyte for the Kununurra battery trial using imported vanadium.
"The reality is that for any large-scale battery, you're looking at sort of a two-year horizon to grid connect and that's just the process of getting the approvals," Mr Arvidson said.
"In terms of the timeline, I think it's all achievable in line with how Labor presented it. It's just a question of how much local content can be included in that battery within the timeframe."
Mr Arvidson (left) with WA Premier Roger Cook.
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Mr Arvidson described vanadium flow batteries as a "proven technology" that had not been widely adopted because of high costs.
"You're going to continue to see lots more of these batteries, not just in Kalgoorlie. Yes, they are better for hot climates, but ultimately economics generally wins,"
he said.
"Flow batteries are not flammable, they'll last 30 to 50 years without degrading and are fully recyclable, and once the economics stack up, there's a pretty compelling reason to adopt these."
Kalgoorlie-Boulder has experienced widespread outages in recent years.
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Lack of capacity
Meanwhile, the mining industry in the Goldfields is crying out for more power.
Ongoing issues with the grid were underlined during the official opening of a new $800 million rare earths refinery in West Kalgoorlie last November.
Resources Minister Madeleine King and Lynas Rare Earths managing director Amanda Lacaze at the official opening of the new Kalgoorlie refinery in November 2024.
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In an embarrassing moment for WA Labor on the eve of the election, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King was being taken on a tour of the control room with a media entourage in tow when the power went out.
"Obviously, it's not perfect and we need to work to make things better," she remarked at the time.
"There are a lot of demands on the system, and the challenge for government is making sure infrastructure keeps pace with industry."
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson said it was a common theme in the resources sector.
Mr Wilson has been lobbying for improved power solutions since taking office in 2023.
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"If we had an extra few megawatts to spare, you could see how even one mine could increase production," he said.
"That brings more royalties to the state, it brings more jobs to our region, and delivers a much stronger economy."